


The New World

by WordsandStuff



Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Clarke Griffin-centric, Clexa will happen but not for a long time., Community: au100, F/F, F/M, Gen, Inspired by The 100, Lexa Does Not Get Shot, Modified Source, NOT a one-Shot, Novel, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:46:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23378590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsandStuff/pseuds/WordsandStuff
Summary: Clarke is sent down to the Earth by her mother in order to prevent the council from acting upon their decision to end her daughter's life for what she knows about the Ark.On the planet, Clarke must find herself in a world she is woefully unprepared for. She faced trials and triumphs, victories and defeats in a world she believes she is the sole living inhabitant until one day that all changes. She learns she isn't alone and with that discovery, everything she had prepared herself for, everything she thought she knew about life on Earth is about to change.
Relationships: Anya/Raven Reyes, Bellamy Blake/Echo, Clarke Griffin & Lexa, Clarke Griffin/Lexa, Indra/Marcus Kane, Octavia Blake/Lincoln
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	The New World

**Author's Note:**

> This story is going to be my take on what could have happened had Clarke been sent to Earth two years before the Ark sent the kids down to the surface.
> 
> This is the first of a few stories I plan to write and it is based on Clarke's time 'Pre-100' and it will lead up to the time when the Ark must send kids down to determine if the planet is habitable. I plan on this being a long-fic(+100K words) and I will try to keep updating as often as possible in order to keep the story flowing. 
> 
> If you have any thoughts on the story, feel free to post a comment after a chapter. If you don't feel comfortable doing so and you just want to read without commenting, that is fine too. Ok, enough with the note. Time to get on with the story!
> 
> Enjoy!

Clarke sighed while her eyes scanned the sketch drawing on the floor that has been the focus of her attention for the better part of six weeks. A drawing like this might have been finished in days if she had enough supplies but life on the ark was not as ideal as anyone would like. That her mother was able to still provide her with any drawing material to continue her hobby was a welcome surprise especially with her being in solitary confinement and the primary reason she was working on it at such a lethargic pace.

She considered that her classification of being a prisoner on the ark was redundant because every one of the inhabitants on the ship all suffer from the same fate of being involuntary prisoners inside the metal tin and condemned to circle the toxic planet below until they get thrown into space for whatever reason the council decides. What did it matter she was in a box, inside the box? They were all going to die, anyway.

Clarke scolded herself, realizing her mind was going to take her in a direction she didn’t want to go so she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths of recycled air to steady herself. Her father taught her the need to be able to take control of her emotions and she had become a master at recognizing those moments of falling into frustration. Like she so often did, she began to clear everything out of her mind. Sitting straight with her hands clasped in her lap, set herself on the task of liberating herself from the storm brewing within.

Nearly an hour had passed that to her had only felt like a moment. Had her senses not become acutely aware of a disturbance, she was certain she would have happily remained in her state of peace for much longer. Once she pulled herself back from the dream-like state that weighed upon her like a blanket, she opened her eyes and looked up at the digital clock above her door and realized that dinner was two hours away. Her calm now replaced by confusion and speculation because she could hear a conversation happening behind the door. 

The noises didn’t go away and she looked upon the door with suspicion when hearing the familiar beeping of someone pressing upon a keypad and the hiss then click that signalled the door was being unlocked. Life as a prisoner on the Ark for the last eight months had been made up of a strictly followed routine, days involving breakfast, then exercise. That was followed by lunch and mandatory but solitary Earth-skills education, then she was promptly returned to her cramped metal box for dinner. A visitor arriving mid-day was not routine.

That realization planted a seed of anxiety in her, causing her muscles to constrict while pushing herself toward the back of her cell. She fought against the intrusive possibility that the only possible explanation she could consider for what was currently happening was the worst but made a promise to herself and whoever came through that door that she would give the fight of their life if it came down to it. The door opened on its well-greased hinges far enough for Clarke to see the visitor and her fear became confusion.

“Mom? What are you doing here?” 

Instead of answering her daughter, Abby dashed across the room to where Clarke had begun to rise to her feet. Her mother pulled her into a constricting hug that she replied to with one of her own once she realized what was happening.

“Mom?” Clarke’s voice was smaller than the room around her. “What’s happening? Are they letting me go?”

Abby released the hug they shared, gave Clarke a reassuring smile and grabbed Clarke by the hand urging her to follow her to doorway. 

“Let's get you out of here first.”

The tone of her mother's voice would have been reassuring had it not been strained as well. She let her mother lead her through the doorway and onto the empty catwalk of her cell-block level, Clarke found herself hesitating when she looked around because there were no signs of others leaving their cells. More importantly, there were no other guards as far as she could see. Nothing was making sense.

“We’re getting you out of here. I’ll explain on the way.”

“On the way? Where are the guards?” 

“They are busy dealing with a situation in another part of the Ark.” Abby said. 

Clarke knew there was more to it and she was about to ask but Abby continued to explain while leading Clarke away from her cell and down the catwalk. 

“The council had a vote about what you know this morning. The council has reached the decision about your being a prisoner isn’t about how old you are anymore. They are increasingly paranoid about what you know reaching the population.”

“That means…” Clarke felt panic begin to swell inside her but before the world around her could start to spin, Abby gave her hand a reassuring squeeze to ground her.

“You don’t have to worry about that, sweetheart. I’ve been working on something but I need you to trust me.” 

“I trust you, mom.” Clarke said as her mother led her toward a service hatch that was open at the end of the catwalk on the prison level.

Clarke didn’t hesitate and climbed through after Abby, and pulling it closed behind them as her mother instructed. From there, she proceeded to follow through the labyrinth of cramped and unpleasantly hot service corridors, content to follow her mother until the silent questions in her head became too plentiful to keep in any longer.

“Why now?” 

“There have been system failures in some parts of the Ark. The council has begun moving people from the parts of the Ark that have been the most problematic. Marcus convinced the council they had to remove any threat that your father’s discovery might reach the public due to how people are starting to talk. It wasn’t until after they held the vote this morning that I found out what they planned to do.”

“But I thought there were at least two and a half years before the Ark starts to show signs of distress. There is still time to fix things.”

“Sinclair told Jaha that the two-year window to fix the problem was an optimistic one if we even had the required materials. Even if he is able to keep the Ark going, it won’t be able to maintain the population as it is. The Ark is dying.”

“And they voted on this without you? Votes aren’t binding without all council members present.” Clarke suggested, knowing it was far too late for anything to really change now.

It was well known to the population of the Ark that it was a requirement all members of the council be present and register their vote for a legitimate ruling. Never before had something like this happened or been permitted.

“They removed me from the council and gave my seat to Diana Sydney. Their argument was that I couldn’t see it through to vote in the best interest of the station because you are my daughter. Not after what happened with your father.”

“I told them I wouldn’t say anything and they had all dad’s evidence. They could just destroy it.” Clarke argued to the ether.

“They did destroy it. Some of the people are starting to question why the Ark is having the problems it is and the council believes there is still too much of a risk. That is why I am are getting out of there. It isn’t safe for you here anymore.” Abby declared as they came to a hatchway that she paused in front of. “I can’t let what happened to your father happen to you.”

“Then, where are we going?”

Abby raised her hand, placing a finger over her lips and urged Clarke to be quiet. She leaned her ear to the hatch door they arrived at and placed her ear against it. After a moment, Abby pulled her head off the metal and knocked three times. A second later, she did it again. Without warning, the hatch door opened up and a brunette stared at the pair who were currently crouched in the service corridor.

“You’re late.” the girl in the room scolded the pair, carrying with her reprimand clear signs of frustration in the tone.

“It wasn’t easy to create a distraction big enough for the council to summon all of the guard.” Abby explained, stepping into the room and reaching her hand back to Clarke to help her into the room.

“I can’t stay here. They’ll find me.” Clarke suggested.

“That’s why you’re not staying here. Thanks to your mother, this pressure regulator, and my mechanical genius, I’m going to make sure of that.” The stranger said while turning a screw in what appeared to be a console. 

“What’s going on, mom?” Clarke’s eyes were now as wide as they’d ever been.

“Clarke, I need you to listen to me, okay?” Abby urged her daughter whose eyes were frantically searching the room for a place to hide. “Honey. Listen.” Abby cooed, reaching forward and placing her hands on both of Clarke’s cheeks. Their eyes were locked and Abby could see her daughter looked more like a trapped animal than the happy, cheerful young woman she remembered before all this began.

“Mom…” Clarke’s bottom lip trembled and her eyes had begun to redden as she shook her head in muted defiance.

“It’s the only way I can protect you. If you don’t go, they are going to do to you what they did to your father.”

“This thing is over a hundred years old! Even if the pod survives I’ll die because of the radiation.”

Raven responded immediately to Clarke’s suggestion and mumbled, “The pod is the only part of this plan I have any faith in.”

Her comment didn’t go without a glare from Abby who turned her attention back to her daughter after informing Raven she wasn’t interested in any more suggestions.

“Clarke, everyone born on the station has greater tolerance to radiation than those who would have been on the Earth at the time the bombs. It’s the only chance you have.”

“But I’ll be alone…” tears fell freely from Clarke’s eyes. Everything was happening far too quickly for her to be able to process. 

“You won’t be. Raven is going with you.” Abby said.

Clarke processed the name and she recalled her father talking about a talented girl who would one day be the one to fix and solve problems that the Ark would encounter in the future. His confidence in her abilities bolstered the possibility that they actually had a chance to reach the ground alive.

“She’ll have a radio so that we can communicate.” Abby smiled through tears of her own. “You aren’t going to be all alone down there, Clarke. You two are going to save everyone. You will be giving humanity a chance to survive.”

Across the room, a panel began to flash blue next to the door and Raven swore.

“Abby, they are through the far doors. I still need a couple more minutes to get this thing hooked up.” Raven said, interrupting the mother-daughter conversation.

“Can they get in here?” Clarke asked.

Raven nodded but didn’t slow her effort on the task at hand. “They will need about twenty minutes and a plasma torch to cut through the door. I wouldn’t put it past them to have someone already crawling through the hatchway you two just used.”

Abby looked to the hatch and then scanned the room. Once she found a metal pipe she believed to be acceptable for her purposes and brought it down on the control panel, the resulting sparks and the panel going dark had rendered it inoperable.

“Keep working on the pod, Raven. Clarke, we need to get you into one of these.” Abby said, leading Clarke over to where the older space suits rested atop a metal crate.

“Remember Abby, you have to launch us from the control room.” Raven stated, pointing to the small room in front of the pod.

“You have to come with us. There has to be a way to launch us from inside the pod. I won’t go down to the planet if they are going to float you!” Clarke declared, crossing her arms as if the conversation was over.

“They won’t do anything to me. I’m the only surgeon they have and I am the one who trains new doctors. They need me.”

“But what if…”

“They won’t,” Abby promised while shaking her head and forcing a smile. She reached up and brushed hair that had fallen in front of Clarke’s eyes, tucking it behind her ear and then pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I promise I’ll be safe.”

Clarke swallowed hard and wanted to argue but she knew there was no point. The people of the Ark needed her mother. They didn’t need a possible threat in the form of a sixteen-year-old girl who could turn everyone against the council.

She watched in defeat as her mother moved to the spacesuits then handed one to her, instructing her how to put it on. Clarke didn’t know what to say so she wordlessly stepped into the fabric suit one leg at a time. She allowed her mother to help her reach down into the long sleeves of the arms until her hands reached the gloves and then she closed the seal on the two portions of the suit.

Abby stepped back and inspected her daughter’s suit while offering her daughter a forced smile. Clarke could see someone at the main entrance of the room could be heard and Abby saw the concern grow in her daughter and followed her line of sight. It was Marcus Kane and beside him the Chancellor, Thelonius Jaha. 

Marcus pounded on the glass of the door and ordering the guard to “Get this door open right now!”. Thelonious, on the other hand, was just staring through the clear panel at the group in the room until after a moment, reached to the panel and flipped the communication switch.

“Abby put a stop to this. You are putting all our lives in danger.”

Abby stepped forward and in front of the pod that Raven was frantically working to get operational. Clarke watched on while standing out of view of the newcomers at the door.

Walking over to the door, Abby slammed her hand down on the communication switch on her side. “You are not going to murder my daughter.”

“Open the door and we can talk about this. We can figure something out.” Jaha suggested. His voice was far too calm for the situation and it caused Clarke to shiver with the understanding that if they opened the door both she and Raven were going to be floated out the nearest airlock.

“We both know that isn’t going to happen, Thelonious” Abby declared.

“There is nowhere for any of you to go, Abby. And now you’ve brought Raven into this scheme that is going to get you all killed.”

“We know about the pressure regulator, Abby. What is your plan? Do you think sending your daughter down to a planet that is uninhabitable is the right thing to do? You want to do that to your little girl?” Marcus asked.

“How much longer, Raven?”

“Just another minute. I got this, Abby.”

“Are they going to get us?” Clarke asked in a whisper. She stepped forward around the craft to where her mother was standing and wrapped her arms around her.

“They won’t get you, honey. I promise.” Abby reassured her by taking her hand and offering a reassuring squeeze then pulling her into a hug. Clarke couldn’t help but squeeze her eyes tightly and focus on the feeling of her mother’s arms around her. 

A moment later, the sound of something slamming against the other side of the hatch they had used to reach the room was being hit caught their attention.

“It’s time to go.” Abby said while loosening the hug. Clarke fought against the loss of her mother’s touch but allowed her mother to lead her into a seat in the small pod beside where Raven was working.

“Come with us.” Clarke appealed to her mother through tears and outstretched arms. “Please!”

Abby shook her head. “I can’t. People here are going to need me.”

“I need you!” Clarke pleaded.

“Stay still, I’m going to strap you in.” Abby said while sitting Clarke down and bucking her into her chair. 

She gave each of them a tug to ensure Clarke wasn’t going to be shifting around in her seat during descent. The understanding that this was likely the last time she would ever see her mother again pressed upon her harder than the straps her mother was tightening. She realized for the first time this was actually happening and she said the only words she knew how to say.

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, Clarke. Always.” Abby closed her eyes and pressed a kiss to Clarke’s forehead.

“Abby, the hatch!” Raven’s voice cut through the moment and Abby’s eyes flew open to see the guard start slide through the small entryway. “Get to the control room!”

Abby sprinted into the small room and slammed the door closed. After locking the door, Raven reached up to pull the door to the escape pod closed and a gunshot echoed throughout the room.

To everyone’s shock, the guard had drawn his pistol and fired a shot at the craft. Abby screamed and Jaha was yelling at the guard through the com at the door to cease-fire because the risk in hitting fuel canisters on the ship would result in the loss of every life on the Ark.

Raven took advantage of the guards' indecision to yank the door of the dropship closed and turned the locking mechanism to secure the door. She flipped a switch next to the door to engage a secondary magnetic lock and before dropping heavily into her seat. With a grunt, Raven reached above her and flipped a switch on the panel above her which started a scratching sound to play through the speaker in the pod.

“Clarke’s fine, Abby but we have to go before he tries to open the pod. Hit the switch!”

“May we meet again.” That was the last thing Clarke and Raven heard over the radio before Abby’s hand slammed down on the console cutting the radio out as the wire cables began to self-disconnect from the ship.

The door to the bay began to open, resulting in all the objects that weren’t secured in the room to vanish into the black vacuum of space beyond - including the guard who had fired his gun.

The pod began to make a number of electronic and mechanical sounds in preparation for launch, but most noticeably was the sound of metal clamps screeching as they were breaking free from the base of the craft after years of neglect. For a moment Clarke believed that they weren’t actually going to get away, but that thought vanished as quickly as the pod departed from the bay and being sent into the darkness of space beyond.

On the Ark, Abby saw the pod disappear and hit the button once more to close the bay door. She let out a sob and fell to the floor, praying to whatever power there might be that she hadn’t just sent her daughter to her death and done the council’s job for them.

~ ! ~

Inside the pod, it was all Clarke and Raven could do to not be thrown around after the rough departure. Thankfully, the weightlessness of space took over and once they were clear of the rotation of the Ark and it’s artificial gravity, they were able to reorient themselves. 

Unfortunately for Raven, the launch caused her to be jostled from her seat. She was thrown from her seat but lucky enough to grasp the harness of her chair so she didn’t tumble uncontrollably and sustain any significant injury.

“Are you okay?” Clarke asked, noticing the left leg of her suit was red rather than the white it was supposed to be.

“Ask me that if we make it through the atmosphere in one piece and don’t bounce when we hit the ground.”

“My father said you were the best engineer on the station.” 

“That’s why I give this crazy plan a fifty percent chance of working.”

“What do you mean fifty-percent?” Clarke’s voice rose in pitch.

“We’re already up from twenty-five percent because we made it out of the bay alive and this thing managed to remain air-tight. Hold on, we’re about to enter the atmosphere.” Clarke watched Raven give her own harness a strong tug to tighten the buckles a little more and noticed that there was a significant amount of blood on her hands. “This will get a little bumpy.” 

“You’re bleeding. I need to look at it.”

“And when we’re safely on the ground, I’ll let you. One problem at a time.”

“Problem? What problem?”

Raven didn’t respond with an answer but her hands were flipping a number of switches on the console in front of her. The ship shook violently for a minute before somewhat stabilizing.

“There. No problem.” Raven said as the ship continued its journey to the ground. The outside of the craft seemed to be on fire while Clarke looked through the window of the craft because those were flames everywhere. “Now we just have to hope the parachutes open or radiation will be the least of our troubles.” Raven let out a shaky breath and she seemed to be swaying in her chair.

“What do you mean “hope the parachutes open?” Raven?”

When she got no response from Raven, she realized as she watched the brunettes head roll to the side and her arms began to float in front of her that something was clearly wrong. She was unresponsive to Clarke’s verbal attempts to wake her and Clarke realized that blood-loss had contributed to her state.

“Raven!”

Clarke grabbed a hold of her safety harness and before she closed her eyes, she risked a glance forward through the window in the craft. Where moments ago there had been nothing but flames from re-entry, she could see blue sky and a mix of white clouds for as far as her eyes could see. Her breath hitched and her lips parted with awe. Inferno had been replaced with the vista of trees, hills, and even mountains that reached up from the ground below. The numerous colours filled her imagination with the hope that all the things she saw in pictures or in old movies on the Ark were real.

“It’s so beautiful!” Clarke whispered to no one in particular.

She would have liked to linger on the sensations coursing through her but the reality of the moment broke her from her dream. The sound of something metallic breaking free from the craft above had Clarke hoping that the ship was just releasing the parachutes in an attempt to arrest the falling craft as Raven had described. Raven. She knew would have to help her as soon as they touched down.

Seconds later, the metal ship jerked and Clarke couldn’t stop her eyes from pinching together, nor could she prevent her lungs from screaming in terror with the thought that the ship was still moving too fast.

The realization that this could be the end washed over her and she would by lying if she said she found peace. She was terrified and the only solace she could find was that she knew her mother loved her and that she had been lucky enough to see the beauty of the world that awaited humanity's return. Moments before the craft met the ground Clarke echoed her mother’s final words,

“May we meet again.”


End file.
